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firm establishment as a national institution may be attril)uted iu no 

 small degree to tlie solidity lent its foundation and early development 

 by " rich and powerful barons and ecclesiastics." It has truly been 

 the sport of kings. Thus we trace in vague outlines the history of 

 horse-racing from the mists of antiquity to its firm establishment in 

 England, from which crude beginning has grown and developed the 

 great turf system of to day in the Old and New World. 



Horse-racing was introduced, of course, into America from England, 

 and all our most valued breeds of racing-horses — whether under saddle 

 or in harness — rest upon a foundation of English blood. 



For the purposes of systematization we will separately and in order 

 consider the achievements of the three breeds of American turf horses : 



(1st) Thoroughbreds or running horses; (2d) trotting horses, and 

 (3d) pacers. 



Thoroughbred Race-Horses. 



The earliest races in America of which we have historic note occurred 

 at Hempstead Heath, on Long Island, about 1665. Richard Nichols, 

 then Governor of the province, was an admirer of fine horses, and 

 criticized the Dutch or Flemish breeds as better adapted to slow labor 

 than fleetness or display. He accordingly had a race-course prepared 

 in Long Island, and ordered that a plate be run for every year. Horse- 

 racing was also indulged in moderately in Virginia and Maryland in 

 the seventeenth century, and early in that century English racing 

 breed horses were imported. There is a record of a race run in South 

 Carolina, at Charleston Neck, in 1734, for a prize of $20.00. In the 

 following year a jockey club was organized at Charleston. So the 

 racing spirit gradually grew along the Atlantic Coast until the War 

 of the Revolution. After that happily-terminated event and the firm 

 establishment of the Republic, the importation of race-horses from 

 England became common, and in this way the horse-stock of this 

 country was enriched by the blood of such Derby winners as Diomed, 

 winner of the first Derby, Saltran, winner in 1783, Sir Henry, winner 

 in 1798, and Priam, winner in 1830. Two later importations that 

 have bestowed upon the American breed incalculable benefit were 

 Glencoe, imported in 1836, and Leamington, imported in 1865. There 

 is hardly a good racing tribe in America but has the blood of Glencoe ; 

 and Leamington gave us such great sires as Longfellow, Eolus, En- 



